Patrick Beverley calls out NBA players for resting
By mdelaney
Resting is all the rage as the NBA regular season winds down and players ready for the postseason. The trend hasn’t sat well with Houston guard Patrick Beverley.
Patrick Beverley had some strong words for his fellow NBAers who sit out of games due to rest. While perennial front runners like the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers have no issue taking a night off, the fiery guard sounded off on his cohorts for their lax mentality.
"“I think it’s bulls–t,” Beverley told ESPN’s Tim McMahon following Houston’s 137-125 victory over Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. “I think that’s a disgrace to this league. I think that fans deserve better.”"
Beverley continued his monologue by venting about the privilege it is to play in the NBA.
"“I could care less about coaches asking players to rest or not,” he continued. “It’s up to you to play or not, and if you don’t, you’re disrespecting the game. And I don’t believe in disrespecting the game, because there was a time where I wasn’t playing in the NBA and I was trying to get here. So me resting, I feel like, is disrespecting me, disrespecting the name on the front of the jersey and disrespecting the name on the back of the jersey.”"
Beverley might want to check himself before he wrecks himself. As noted by Bleacher Report’s Rob Goldberg, Beverley’s never played in more than 71 games in a season (2015-16) and averages only 56 games per season. And even though Beverley has a league-wide reputation of being a superb on-ball defender, he’s never been a consistent contributor in any other facet of the game. Usually the guys who earn rest are the ones carrying their team in some way, shape or form.
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So yeah, Beverley’s message is somewhat right–player’s choosing to rest are acting like diva’s. But at the same time, Beverley’s never been in their shoes, and doesn’t look like he’s anywhere close to rising to their level anytime soon. He might want assess where those players the value those players possess before he announces his disgrace of them publicly.